How we cook has changed so much —not just in the quality and intelligence of our appliances, but in the mode we receive recipes. These days, you can use an app to customize a curry with the ingredients you have on hand, or even ask Alexa the best way to make a cauliflower pizza crust.
But what if you could actually hear the onions sizzling, and be entertained while you chop and sauté? That’s the idea behind Cooking By Ear, a new audio cooking show hosted by former Chez Panisse executive chef Cal Peternell and sound guru Kristina Loring.
After 22 years in the iconic Berkeley kitchen, Peternell left Chez Panisse last year to focus on cookbook writing and this podcast, in which he visits the kitchens of famous friends to cook a dish and chat about everything from food and family to poetry and film. Peternell has a warm, lush voice well-suited for podcasts, and Loring’s expertise means every crunch and sizzle comes through crystal-clear.
You cook along in real time, pausing when you need to — and by the end of the show, you have a meal and you know all about Oscar-winning actress Frances McDormand’s cookie plates and why Academy Award-winning screenwriter and director Alexander Payne left film to work in food during the spring of 2015.
In Episode 5, for example, Peternell makes celery gratin with Payne. As I gathered my ingredients and supplies — Peternell and Loring tell you what you need, and there’s always a published list to consult online — I couldn’t help but feel giddy, like I’d been invited to an intimate hang with celebrities I admire.
Talk about intimate: Less than halfway through the episode, Payne reveals how he knows Peternell. “In early 2015, I lost a brother, a relationship blew up, a movie I was working on collapsed and I had to bail a sickly uncle out of a bad situation,” he explained between celery chops.
That March, he wrote a letter asking Peternell if he could be his intern for two months, because he needed to take a break from working with his brain to work with his hands. Peternell took him in, and they’ve been friends ever since.
In terms of recipes, some home cooks may find the initial conversational tone difficult. How much is “a little bit” of thyme and tarragon? But rest assured, your hosts will tell you right before it’s time to add the herbs.
Along the way, Peternell reveals basic tips for success, like always salting your water when cooking vegetables or heating your milk before adding it to your roux. When making risotto with McDormand in Episode 1, he pleads with listeners to stay away from store-bought stock. “It’s just weird and gross,” he says. “Use water instead.”
At one point, I could hear the whisk tapping against the bowl, but longed to know what the roux was supposed to look like. Just then, Payne chimed in, saying it resembled mashed potatoes at that moment, and soon after, a thin yogurt, according to Peternell.
Above all, preparing a dish with an audio cooking show reminded me how important it is to use all of my senses when I’m in the kitchen. It was helpful to know the celery would be ready within 5 to 6 minutes. But it was more important, and made for a better gratin, to be told to actually taste for that “tender but not mushy” texture.
The best sound? Our bubbling gratins sizzling in unison as we took them out of the oven at the same time.
Cooking By Ear
Listen and cook along with this podcast, which is available on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Play and Spotify.
